NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently imaged an interesting ridge near an ancient river delta in Lake Jezero Crater. The pictures, at the request of the Perseverance rover science team, which wanted to take a closer look at the inclined surface of the geological formation, were taken on April 23, as part of the 27th flight of the compact rotorcraft, according to the website of the US department.
Image Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech
“Ingenuity not only provides aerial photography, but also allows our team to be in two places on Mars at the same time. Sending a rover out to scout and search in one location while a helicopter launches to scout in another, hundreds of meters away, is a big time saver. It might also help us explore areas that the rover will never visit, like in this case.”says Ken Farley, project manager for the Perseverance rover at the California Institute of Technology.
The formation that interested scientists was called the “Ridge of Fortune”. It is of geological interest because data collected from orbit and from a distance by Perseverance indicates that the ridge is the boundary between two major rocks at the bottom of Lake Lake crater.
Previous images suggest that the rock layers in this area are tilted, which is rare on Mars, unlike Earth, where plate tectonics and earthquakes cause rock to tilt. The science team will also have the opportunity to compare images of this geological feature from the 27th Ingenuity flight with data collected by the helicopter and rover regarding the sloping ridge line, nicknamed “Artubi.” The last geological formation is located in the area of the South Seita crater. Comparing the data might help scientists better understand the history of the crater floor and perhaps the forces that were at work in this part of the Lake billions of years ago.
Recall that within 26th flight Ingenuity filmed the crash site of debris from the descent module’s heat shield and the Perseverance rover’s parachute. These images may help develop safer ways to land spacecraft on the Red Planet, which are planned in the future. In particular, we are talking regarding the Mars Sample Return Lander mission, the key goal of which is to deliver samples of rocks and the atmosphere of Mars, collected by the Perseverance rover, for their subsequent analysis on Earth.
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